Method and system for delivering a voice message from a telephone to a group of recipients

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a method and system that allows a telephone user to send voice messages to multiple recipients. According to an embodiment, DTMF signals along with a voice message may be sent over a voice call to a network service platform. The voice message may then be delivered to contacts identified in the DTMF signal.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to telephony communications, and moreparticularly, to voice messaging systems.

2. Description of Related Art

Electronic communication is becoming an increasingly popular means ofcommunication. In certain situations, it is advantageous to be able tosimultaneously communicate the same audible message to a select group ofpeople. An e-mail message sent from a network enabled computer may besent to multiple e-mail addresses. However, e-mail is not generallyconfigured for transmission of voice streams. Voice messages sent overe-mail may require substantial processing at both the sending andreceiving ends. In addition, e-mail is not ubiquitous.

The telephony system (both wireless and landline) has been developedprimarily for transmitting voice signals between telephones. However,adequate technology has not been developed for sending voice messages tomultiple telephone numbers or network access identifiers (NAIs).

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides a new mechanism to allow delivery of a voicemessage from a telephone to a group of recipients. In operation, a dualtone multi-frequency (DTMF) signal, representing contact numbers of therecipients, is transmitted through a voice call by the telephone to anetwork service platform (NSP). Additionally, the voice message istransmitted to the NSP through the voice call. The NSP then decodes theDTMF signal and delivers the voice message to the contact numbers.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a wireless or landline telephonemay contain (1) a telephone book having contact entries each defining arespective contact telephone number, and (2) group data that designatesone or more groups of contact entries from the telephone book. A user ofthe telephone could provision the group data on the telephone, through,for example, the use of a setup interface.

In the exemplary embodiment, the telephone will further include a voiceinstant messaging (IM) application, which can enable delivery of a voicemessage from the telephone to a group of contacts. In operation, theapplication may receive a user selection of a given one of the groups,and the application will initiate a voice call to a network serviceplatform and send to the service platform DTMF representations of thecontact telephone numbers in the selected group. Further, the user mayspeak a voice message, which the telephone will transmit to the serviceplatform. Upon receipt of the voice message and the contact telephonenumbers, the service platform may then deliver a recording of the voicemessage to each of the contact telephone numbers (e.g., by placing acall to each contact telephone number and playing out the message whenthe recipient answers, or by sending the recorded voice message in ane-mail, MMS message or other transport mechanism to the recipient).

Preferably, the selected group of contacts will comprise two or morecontact telephone numbers. Thus, the embodiment may operate to effectdelivery of a voice message from a telephone to at least two recipients.

Preferably, the telephone will mask out the sound emitted to the userwhile the telephone sends the DTMF representations of the contacttelephone numbers to the service platform, so the user of the telephonewill not hear the digits being dialed. As the telephone dials thosedigits, the telephone may present a “sending” status-message to theuser, to inform the user that the telephone is working to deliver thevoice message.

Advantageously, at least one embodiment allows a telephone to deliver avoice message to a' buddy-group, so as to interoperate with moreconventional packet-based instant messaging systems. For instance, whenthe service platform receives the voice message and contact telephonenumbers, the service platform could convert each contact telephonenumber to a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) address and could deliverthe voice message to the SIP address in the same way that SIP-basedinstant messages are regularly conveyed. That way, a message recipientwho normally receives SIP-based instant messages could receive the voicemessage in the same way he or she normally receives instant messages.

Although this summary speaks of specific embodiments, it should not beread to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by theclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating network architecture componentsof an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating network architecture componentsof a further embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating network architecture componentsof another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block drawing of a telephone in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram showing operation a telephone inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram showing operation of a network serviceplatform in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram showing operation a voice messagingsystem in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a messaging diagram showing communications between elements ofan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a messaging diagram showing communications between elements ofanother embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 1. Overview

In an exemplary embodiment, a system is configured to enable a telephoneuser to send voice messages to a group of contacts. According to theembodiment, the messages would be delivered substantially simultaneouslyacross a telephone network to each member of the group.

FIG. 1 provides a block diagram of a simplified network architecture inwhich an embodiment of the invention can be implanted. A wirelesstelephone 102 is configured to communicate with a cellular tower 104.The cellular tower 104 is communicatively coupled with a telephonenetwork 106 such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN). Althoughnot shown, the link between the tower 104 and the cellular network mayinclude other nodes such as a base transceiver station (BTS) and a basestation controller (BSC). Two landline telephones 110 and 112 are showncoupled with the telephone network 106. A network service platform (NSP)108 is also coupled with the telephone network 106 and may, for example,be a network server enabled to make and receive voice calls over thetelephone network 106.

In this embodiment, the wireless telephone 102 is preconfigured with agroup of contacts that includes contact information for potentialrecipients. In addition, the wireless telephone 102 includes a messagingapplication for enabling input from the user and for directingcommunications with a telephony network.

The embodiment further provides that the NSP 108 is configured toreceive and process a voice call from the wireless telephone 102. Thus,the NSP 108 may have a processor, telephone circuitry, telephone I/O,and data storage. According to the exemplary embodiment, the datastorage on the NSP 108 may include application logic for processingvoice calls, decoding dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals, storinga voice message, and sending copies of the voice message to recipients.

The following paragraphs provide an overview of operation of anembodiment where a voice message is sent from the wireless telephone 102to the landline telephones 110 and 112. In the operation, the wirelesstelephone 102 places a voice call to the NSP 108 and a connection isestablished over the telephone network 106. The wireless telephone 102transmits at least two sets of information to the NSP 108 over the voicecall: 1) a set of DTMF signals representing contact numbers and 2) avoice message. According to this simplified example, the contact numbersare the telephone numbers for the two landline telephones 110 and 112.

The NSP 108 decodes the received DTMF signals and places a voice call toeach of the contact numbers. DTMF signals can be decoded through analogor digital signal processing. For example, an SS1203 DIP-18 chip made bySilicon Systems, Inc. may be used as a DTMF-receiver chip. Afterdecoding the DTMF signals, the NSP 108 places voice calls by dialing thetelephone numbers of the two landline telephones 110 and 112. After afirst connection is established with the first landline telephone 110,the NSP 108 transmits the voice message over the first connection.Likewise, after a second connection is established with the secondlandline telephone 112, the NSP 108 transmits the voice message over thesecond connection.

A further embodiment of the network architecture is shown in FIG. 2.Wireless telephone 102 is configured to place a voice call to NSP 108through a radio access network 120 and a PSTN or packet data network128. The radio access network 120 includes a base transceiver station(BTS) 122 located at a communications tower and coupled with a basestation controller (BSC) 124. The BSC 124 is also coupled with a mobileswitching center (MSC) or PDSN 126. The wireless telephone maycommunicate with the radio access network 120 through the BTS 122.Likewise, the PSTN or packet data network 128 may communicate with theMSC/PDSN 126. In operation, a voice call may be dialed at the wirelesstelephone 102 and connected at the NSP 107 after passing through thedescribed elements.

2. Exemplary Network Architecture

A network architecture diagram is presented in FIG. 3. Three telephones152, 156, and 166 are shown. It is contemplated, however, that thenetwork architecture may include any number of telephones. Wirelesstelephones 152 and 156 are configured to communicate with a cellulartelephone network 160 through cell towers 154 and 158 respectively. Oneskilled in the art will recognize that the communication link between awireless telephone 152 (for example) and the cellular telephone network160 may pass through several segments including multiple wirelesstowers, cells, sectors, and switches. Likewise, the wireless telephone152 may be a WiFi, Bluetooth®, or IP telephone that is coupled to atelephone network through a packet-switched network including, forexample a local-area-network (LAN) and/or wide-area-network (WAN).(Thus, in this application, coupling can include more than simply directcoupling.) A landline telephone 166 is communicatively coupled with thePSTN 164. Likewise, the PSTN 164 is communicatively coupled with thecellular telephone network 160. A network service platform (NSP) 108 isshown within the cellular telephone network. It is anticipated that acellular carrier may manage the NSP 108 and thus place the NSP withinthe cellular telephone network. It is contemplated, however, that theNSP 108 may be externally coupled with the cellular telephone network160. Alternatively, the NSP 108 may be coupled with the PSTN 164, whichis in turn coupled with the cellular telephone network 160. Otherconfigurations are possible.

According to an embodiment, the NSP 108 is a server or other computingdevice with a processor, memory and I/O functionality. However, the NSP108 may be a distributed apparatus or system occupying various physicallocations. For example, the functionality of the NSP 108 may beaccomplished by several processors coupled with various data storagefacilities. As an example, DTMF processing and decoding may be performedon a first portion of the NSP 108, digital storage of voice messages ona second portion of the NSP 108, and establishing connection withreceiver stations on a third portion of the NSP 108. Other breakdownsacross functional or other lines are available to those skilled in theart. Likewise, it is contemplated that several NSP's may be used tohandle a greater system throughput, for convenience, for load balancing,or for other reasons.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the NSP 108 is coupled with a packetdata network 168. The packet data network 168 may, for example, be an IPnetwork. Thus, the coupling between the NSP 108 and the packet datanetwork 168 may be a packet data connection. The packet data network iscoupled with a message server 170. The message server may, for examplebe an e-mail server, a session initiation protocol (SIP) server, amultimedia messaging service (MMS) server, an instant messaging (IM)server, or other message server with capabilities for deliveringmessages or establishing a voice connection with a user, customerpremises equipment (CPE), or another computing device. The messageserver 170 may also be configured to interoperate with a packet-basedinstant message system.

Any of the three telephones 154, 156, 166 could be configured as asending telephone. Likewise, a VOIP telephone (not shown) attached tothe packet data network 168 may be configured as a sending telephone. Itis contemplated that any voice-CPE may be a receiving telephone withoutfurther modification. Likewise, in some embodiments, the message server170 may be configured as a receiving telephone.

3. Exemplary Telephone

FIG. 4 provides an illustration of a telephone 200 according to anexemplary embodiment. Various elements are shown as block figures in thedrawing. The elements of the telephone 200 are coupled along a bus 216,although other coupling types are available. A processor 202, signalinput/output (I/O) 204, user I/O, and data storage are coupled with thebus 216. For brevity, only these few elements are shown. Additionalelements may be added or substituted. Likewise, some elements shown maybe removed from some embodiments.

The data storage 208 may be logically divided into at least threesections. A first section 210 stores telephone book information.Telephone book information, also known as contact numbers, may includetelephone numbers, e-mail addresses, network access identifiers, andother identifying information. A second section 212 stores group-data.Group data may be configured so that a subset of contact numbers isincluded within a group. The group may be given a name or otheridentifier. For example, a set of contact numbers for family members mayall be included within a group named “family.”

Program logic 214 is also stored in data storage 208. According to theexemplary embodiment, program logic is executable by the processor 202in order to perform functions. These functions may include, for example,interacting with user I/O to update telephone book entries, interactingwith user I/O to update group-data entries, interacting with user I/O toobtain a voice message and operational instructions, encoding DTMF (orother tonal) representations of contact numbers, placing a voice call,sending DTMF representations of the contact numbers through the signalI/O 204, sending a voice message through the signal I/O 204, promptingthe user with a setup interface through wish the user can establish thedata-group, masking sound of the DTMF representations as they aredialed, so that the user cannot hear the DTMF representations beingdialed, presenting a status message to the user indicating that thevoice message is being delivered, etc. Other functions, including thosenormally associated with a telephone, are also available to one skilledin the art. The data storage 208 may have other storage space to store,for example, voice messages and non-related information or programs.

The signal I/O 204 may, for example, be a transceiver on a wirelesstelephone or simply a twisted pair on a landline telephone. Generally,the Signal I/O 204 serves as a node in the link between the telephone200 and a telephone (or other) network. Likewise, the user I/O may serveto allow a human user to interact with the wireless device. Inputmechanisms may include a keypad and voice transducer, for example. Otherinput mechanisms are available, such as a touch-screen or mouse. Theuser output portion of the user I/O 206 may include a display, speaker,and other lights or signals. One skilled in the art will recognize thatother types of I/O may be used than those briefly described here.

4. Exemplary Operation

FIG. 5 discloses a process flow at an exemplary telephone embodiment.The flow begins at step 302. The start may be triggered by, for example,a user selecting a messaging option on the telephone. Other triggers areavailable. At step 304, the telephone receives a user designation of agroup of contact numbers. In the exemplary embodiment, the groupdesignation is provided through a user I/O. In a further embodiment, theuser selects a group designation from a list provided on the telephoneor from an IM “buddy group.” According to the embodiment, the groupdesignation is used to determine which contacts will receive a voicemessage from the system. In a further embodiment, the buddy groupconsists only of contact numbers representing users who are currentlyon-line.

At step 306, the telephone receives a voice message. The voice messagemay also be provided through the user I/O. As an example of providingthe voice message, a user may speak the message into an audio transducerof the telephone. Alternatively, the voice message may be already storedin data storage on the telephone. Likewise, the voice message may bedownloaded or otherwise received from a second communications device.This may include e-mailing, forwarding, beaming, downloading, streaming,etc. Thus, the voice message may be received as a binary file, binarystream, or an analog stream.

The telephone places a voice call to a network service platform (NSP) atstep 308. According to the exemplary embodiment, the telephone has anNSP contact number stored in data storage and is configured to dial theNSP contact number as part of a group voice messaging application. Othermethods for opening a voice call are available. For example, a messagemay be delivered to a telephone network requesting a connection.

Once a voice call is established between the telephone and the NSP, aDTMF signal is transmitted over the telephone line at step 310.According to the exemplary embodiment, the DTMF signal is arepresentation of a contact number of the group designated at step 304.According to one embodiment, the contact numbers are telephone numbersof the contacts in the designated group. Alternatively, the contactnumbers may be network access identifiers, or another indication of adelivery address. Likewise, the contact numbers within the group mayhave assorted types. In another embodiment, a DTMF code or other codemay be used to identify the type of contact number.

According to an embodiment, only numerals along with a pound sign (#)and an asterisk (*) are transmitted as DTMF signals. More generally, foranother embodiment, a DTMF mapping may be created for many characters.Thus, according to an embodiment, any ASCII character may be mapped to aDTFM signal. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,934 provides a table fortransforming DTMF signals into ASCII characters. U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,934is hereby incorporated by reference. Additionally, a DTMF code or othercode may be transmitted at the start of the voice call to identify thevoice call as a voice messaging call. According to yet anotherembodiment, the DTMF signal is an indication of the contact numbers thatmay be translated into a set of contact numbers at the NSP using areference table or other lookup mechanism.

At step 312, the voice message is transmitted from the telephone to theNSP. The transmittal may, for example, be accomplished by “playing” themessage over the voice connection. Alternatively, the voice message maybe transmitted over the voice call to the NSP as it is delivered to thetelephone through the user I/O.

According to an embodiment, during both steps 310 and 312, a user mayhear audible transmissions as they are sent from the telephone. However,in an alternative embodiment, these sounds are masked or muted in someembodiments so that the user does not hear the transmissions. Masking orMuting may include, for example, altering speaker volume; changing asound signal path; or through other software or hardware implementation.Further, the telephone may provide other indication of thetransmissions, such as a beep, flashing light or other display.Likewise, a user I/O signal may indicate the completion of thetransmission(s).

Although FIG. 5 shows steps in a particular sequence, these steps may beplaced in alternate order. The voice message may be received beforeselecting the group. Alternatively, the voice message may be receivedafter placing the voice call. Additionally, the DTMF signal may be sentsubsequent to transmission of the voice message. Other steps, includingdelays, may be included between the steps shown in the process flows.

FIG. 6 discloses a process flow at a network service platform (NSP). Theprocess flow diagram begins at step 322. The start may be triggered byreceiving a voice call from a telephone, for example. Alternatively, thestart may be triggered by opening a voice call connection with atelephone. Further, the start may be triggered by a DTMF code or othertonal code received at the NSP over the voice call.

At step 324, the NSP receives a DTMF signal from the telephone over thevoice call. According to an embodiment, the DTMF signal is arepresentation of a set of contact numbers as described above. In anembodiment, the NSP (or other entity) decodes the DTMF signal into thevarious contact numbers. These may be stored in data storage at the NSP.

At step 326, the NSP receives a voice message from the telephone overthe voice call. As one skilled in the art will recognize, the order ofsteps 324 and 326 may be reversed. Although termed a “voice” message,the message is more generally an audible message. Thus the message maybe a DTMF code, music, voice, or other signal. In an embodiment, thevoice message is stored in data storage at the NSP.

At step 328, the NSP delivers a voice message to each of the contactnumbers represented by the DTMF signal. As shown in the drawing, manycontact numbers may be dialed. These contact numbers may, for example betelephone numbers—thus delivering the voice message may include openinga voice call to the telephone addressed by the telephone number andplaying the voice message over the voice call. Alternatively, if acontact number is a SIP address, a connection may be established withthe device addressed by the SIP address, and the voice message streamedto the device. Alternatively, depending upon the address type, themessage may be delivered as a binary file, or a message may be deliveredindicating that a message is available at a server or other location.Thus, in an embodiment, each contact number may be processed differentlydepending upon its type. At step 330, the disclosed process flow ends.

FIG. 7 discloses another process flow showing operation of anembodiment. The process flow starts at step 352. At step 354, a group ofcontacts is selected at a telephone. Potentially, the group selectionmay be directed by a user of the telephone or otherwise. At step 356, avoice message is received at the telephone. At step 358, a connection isopened between the telephone and a network service platform (NSP). Thisconnection may, for example, be a voice call. At step 360, tonalrepresentations of the contacts in the group are sent over the voicecall from the telephone to the NSP. These tonal representations may be aDTMF signal or other signal sent over the voice call.

At step 362, the voice message is sent over the voice call from thetelephone to the NSP. According to an embodiment, the voice message hadbeen stored in data storage on the telephone or in another location. Inthis embodiment, the voice message is “played” over the voice call. Inanother embodiment, Step 362 occurs substantially simultaneously withstep 356. Thus, the voice message may be received at the telephone andtransmitted over the voice call to the NSP without being stored in datastorage on the telephone. Alternatively, a temporary storage may storeall or part of the voice message. According to an embodiment, thetemporary storage would be deleted immediately following transmission ofall or part of the stored voice message.

After receiving the tonal representations of the contact numbers, theNSP decodes the tonal representations into computer readablerepresentations of the signal 364. For example, the signal could then bestored as ASCII or other characters in a database or file. At step 366,the voice messages are converted to a binary file at the NSP. This filemay be a .wav file or other file type. This conversion is not, however,required in all embodiments.

At step 372, the decoded tonal representations are converted into a setof network access identifiers (NAI's). An NAI may, for example be atelephone number, an e-mail address, an instant messaging contact numberor buddy number, a SIP contact number, a pager number, or other networkcontact information. In an embodiment, the decoded tonal representationsalso include an indication of the type of the NAI. The NAI's may bestored in data storage on the NSP.

At step 374, the voice message is sent from the NSP to each NAI. If theNAI is a more traditional telephone number, then step 374 may includeopening a voice connection with the telephone represented by the NAItelephone number, and playing the voice message over the voiceconnection. If a messaging service answers the telephone then the NSPmay be configured to leave the message after a tone or similarindication. According to several embodiments, the telephone could be anytype of telephone including landline, cordless, wireless, VOIP, SIP, orTTY, for example.

If the NAI is being sent to an e-mail address or an IM address, theprocedure may be modified to attach the binary file holding the voicemessage to a message sent to the NAI across a packet data network. Thus,a user may receive an e-mail containing an attached voice message orvoice-mail. Alternatively, a message may be sent to a receiving userindicating that a voice message is available for download or delivery.Message retrieval may be accomplished through several methods includingdownloading the voice message through an interne website; requestingdelivery of the voice message to an address or telephone number; orrequesting the voice message be delivered as an MMS message, forexample. Alternatively, the system may allow a user to call-in to listento messages or may push the message to the user. The process flow endsat step 376.

Communication flow diagrams are also provided in FIGS. 8 and 9. In FIG.8, a user 402 is able to communicate through a sending telephone 404that is communicatively coupled with a telephone network, such as a PSTNor a wireless network. The sending telephone may, for example, be amobile telephone (wireless), landline, VOW, etc.

A network service platform 408 is coupled with the telephone network 406and may be, for example, a server or distributed set of communicationdevices such as computers or enabled switches. The connection betweenthe network service platform 408 and the telephone network 406 ispreferably configured so that a voice call can be placed from thesending telephone 4040 to the network service platform 408 through thetelephone network. A receiving telephone 410 is also coupled with thetelephone network and is configured to receive a voice call.

Looking now at the messaging flow shown in FIG. 8: at step 450, the user402 provides information to and requests action from the sendingtelephone 404. This may include triggering a voice messaging applicationon the sending telephone 404, selecting a group of contact numbers froma list stored on the sending telephone 404, and speaking a voice messageinto the sending telephone 404 or selecting a voice message to send froma set of stored voice messages. At step 452, the sending telephone maystore the group selection and the voice message in data storage on thesending telephone 404, encode contact numbers in the selected group asDTMF signals, and trigger a voice message sending procedure, forexample. Other actions may also be available.

At step 454, the sending telephone 404 establishes a connection (voicecall) with the network service platform 408. The DTMF signal and voicemessage are sent to the network service platform 408 at steps 456 and458 respectively. According to an embodiment, after transmitting themessage to the network service platform 408, the sending telephone 404notifies the user 402 that the message has been sent at step 460.

At step 462, the network service platform 408 decodes the DTMF signalinto a set of contact numbers. A connection is opened between thenetwork service platform 408 and a receiving telephone 410 through thetelephone network 406 at step 464. The receiving telephone 410 isassociated with one of the contact numbers. Once the call is establishedat step 464, the voice message is transmitted over the call to thereceiving telephone 410 at step 466.

According to some embodiments, at step 468, a notification of deliveryis sent from the network service platform 408 to the sending telephone404.

Another message flow is disclosed in FIG. 9. The disclosure of FIG. 9may be more applicable to delivery of messages to non-traditional voiceservices such as voice IM, e-mail, or other services that receive packetdata rather than simply transduced voice signals. A user 404 controls asending telephone 404 that is coupled with a telephone network 406. Anetwork service platform (NSP) 408 is also coupled with the telephonenetwork 406 as well as with a packet data network 420. A message server422 is in communication with the packet data network 420.

In the process flow, the user 402 provides the sending telephone 404with a group selection as well as a voice message at step 470. Thesending telephone 404 then retrieves network access identifier (NAI)information for each contact in the group from data storage and convertsthe NAI information into a DTMF signal at step 472. At step 474, aconnection is established over the telephone network 406 between thesending telephone 404 and the NSP 408 through the telephone network 406.The sending telephone 404 transmits the DTMF signal at step 476 andvoice message at step 478. According to some embodiments the voicemessage may be sent in a more compressed format in order to speedtransmission or for other purposes.

At step 480, the NSP 408 may decode the DTMF signal; establish a set ofNAI based on the decoded DTMF signal; store the voice message in datastorage; and prepare to deliver the voice message to each NAI.

At step 482, the NSP 408 sends a message through the packet data network420 to the message server 422. According to some embodiments, themessage includes the voice message as an attached or enclosed file.Alternatively, the message simply includes an indication that a messageis available for a user. In a further embodiment, the voice message isconverted into written text and the text sent as part of the message.

5. Conclusions

A variety of embodiments have been described above. More generally,those skilled in the art will understand that changes and modificationsmay be made to these embodiments without departing from the true scopeand spirit of the present invention, which is defined by the claims. Forexample, elements may be added or removed from the system architecturewithout eliminating usefulness of the embodiments. Elements described ashardware may be implemented as software or firmware. Likewise, elementsdescribed as software may be implemented as firmware or hardware.Although the disclosures discuss a voice call and a voice message, thisterminology should not be seen to limit the calls or messages to onlysignals that represent human voices. A voice message may be any signalthat is capable of being transmitted across a voice call. In order tomaintain a manageable disclosure, elements in some embodiments were notrepeatedly described although they may be implemented in otherembodiments. Likewise, background elements that are well known to thoseskilled in the art were not further described although they may be apart of any of the embodiments.

1. A method of delivering a voice message from a telephone to a group ofrecipients, the method comprising: receiving into the telephone a userdesignation of a group of contact telephone numbers; receiving into thetelephone a voice message spoken by a user of the telephone; operatingapplication logic on the telephone to place a voice call to a networkservice platform and, after the network service platform answers thevoice call, to automatically dial DTMF representations of the contacttelephone numbers in the group, so as to convey the contact telephonenumbers to the network service platform; masking sound of the DTMFrepresentations as they are dialed, so that the user of the telephonecannot hear the DTMF representations being dialed; during the dialing ofthe DTMF representations, presenting a status message to the user of thetelephone indicating that the telephone is attempting to deliver thevoice message; and transmitting the spoken voice message from thetelephone to the network service platform, for delivery of the spokenvoice message by the network service platform to recipients at thecontact telephone numbers; receiving the DTMF representations of thecontact telephone numbers at the network service platform; receiving thespoken voice message at the network service platform; and delivering thespoken voice message from the network service platform to recipients atthe contact telephone numbers, wherein delivering the spoken voicemessage from the network service platform to recipients at the contacttelephone numbers comprises converting the contact telephone numbersinto contact addresses and delivering a recording of the spoken voicemessage to each contact address, wherein the contact addresses compriseSession Initiation Protocol (SIP) addresses.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein delivering the spoken voice message from the network serviceplatform to recipients at the contact telephone numbers comprises:placing telephone calls from the network service platform to the contacttelephone numbers indicated by the DTMF representations, and, when eachtelephone call is answered, playing the spoken voice message in thetelephone call.
 3. A method of delivering a voice message from atelephone to a group of recipients, the method comprising: receivinginto the telephone a user designation of a group of contact telephonenumbers; receiving into the telephone a voice message spoken by a userof the telephone; operating application logic on the telephone to placea voice call to a network service platform and, after the networkservice platform answers the voice call, to automatically dial DTMFrepresentations of the contact telephone numbers in the group, so as toconvey the contact telephone numbers to the network service platform;masking sound of the DTMF representations as they are dialed, so thatthe user of the telephone cannot hear the DTMF representations beingdialed; during the dialing of the DTMF representations, presenting astatus message to the user of the telephone indicating that thetelephone is attempting to deliver the voice message; and transmittingthe spoken voice message from the telephone to the network serviceplatform, for delivery of the spoken voice message by the networkservice platform to recipients at the contact telephone numbers;receiving the DTMF representations of the contact telephone numbers atthe network service platform; receiving the spoken voice message at thenetwork service platform; and delivering the spoken voice message fromthe network service platform to recipients at the contact telephonenumbers, wherein delivering the spoken voice message from the networkservice platform to recipients at the contact telephone numberscomprises converting the contact telephone numbers into contactaddresses and delivering a recording of the spoken voice message to eachcontact address, wherein the contact addresses comprise e-mailaddresses.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein delivering the spoken voicemessage from the network service platform to recipients at the contacttelephone numbers comprises: placing telephone calls from the networkservice platform to the contact telephone numbers indicated by the DTMFrepresentations, and, when each telephone call is answered, playing thespoken voice message in the telephone call.